Spin-ematical: New on DVD for 12/8

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Harry's older now, and that means more darkness, more danger, and of course, more lust. One away from the final installment(s), Dumbledore is preparing Harry for battle while his friends are overcome with the love bug. In her review, Jette Kernion wrote that the film is "a tight suspense film that isn't too scary for older kids, with a good dose of humor, Young Love, and charm." Save from some over-the-top moments in love and Lestrange shenanigans, Buy it.Also on Blu-ray.

Julie & Julia
The exuberant food personality that brought French cooking stateside finally gets a film, sharing time with the blogger who dared to make every single recipe in one year. Overall, Nora Ephron's film is cute, but the charm, power, and driving force of the film lies with Meryl Streep's Julia. In her review, Jette wrote: "It's a comfort-food movies, the mac and cheese or apple-pie of this year's summer movie fare. And I like apple pie and mac and cheese just fine, but I feel that the potential for something less run-of-the-mill and more passionate, complex and memorable was there and sadly, was missed." If you're a foodie, Buy it for Ms. Child. If not, Rent it. Also on Blu-ray. Note: If this overcomes you with the urge to cook, this week's releases also includes Julia Child: The Way to Cook.

Public Enemies
Johnny Depp as John Dillinger? With Christian Bale hunting him as Melvin Purvis and Billy Crudup playing J. Edgar Hoover? It's a project that should've raked in the dough, but only made back its hefty budget in its foreign take. Nevertheless, in his review, Jeffrey M. Anderson wrote: "The real person has become disconnected from his own legend, and he has become virtually obsolete. That [Michael] Mann recognized this and was able to so sublimely illustrate it shows that, not only has he made the connection between old gangster pictures and new ones, but also he has made the connection between movies and life." Buy it. Also on Blu-ray.